It's already morning.
A swift but light breeze brushes through the trees outside, the morning dew falling from a single leaf, hitting the dirt with a tiny splatter. Inei lays in his bed, everything covered but everything from his eyes up.
I'm not too fond of mornings. Mornings are just reminders that I have to survive another day.
Inei stands in front of his sink and mirror; beautiful and lively painted walls surround him as he looks depressingly into the mirror, slumped over with fatigue. He grabs his toothbrush and begins brushing his teeth sluggishly without effort.
Why do I even bother? Nothing good will come anyway. It's always the same.
He spits, then washes his face, looking back into the mirror, hands planted against the counter as his hair covers his eyes.
I wake up, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, and attend class. It's all the same every time. There is nothing new; there is nothing worth doing this for anyway.
He leans back to stand straight and walks into his bedroom, changing into a school uniform. He grabs his bag with a lackluster attitude and walks down the stairs, being greeted by his mother.
"Good morning Inei. Breakfast is on the table."
Breakfast. I bet it's toast and eggs, just like every morning.
Inei approaches the table to find a plate of toast and eggs, still warm, in front of his chair.
I cannot stand this meal, it is too lively. Like every other day I awaken, it never fails to be the same.
Inei sits and eats his food, gets up, grabs his bag, and walks towards the front door, mocking his mother in his own head.
"Have a nice day; I love you, son!" Just like every day.
Inei grabs the doorknob and turns it, trying to push the door open quietly. It squeaks loudly as he gets it halfway open.
Of course. I should know by now that nothing will ever go my way.
About that time, his mother shouts.
"Have a nice day; I love you, son!"
Inei looks back, then forward, walking out, letting the door slam behind him.
The days are always the same, always after she left me, I have never felt the same
Inei begins to walk along the sidewalk, the large city towers looming over him, covering him in their large shadows. His grey hair covers his eyes as he walks with a slouch that makes him sluggish.
When she left, that's when this began, this horrible empty feeling of despair that I live with.
A flashback of a girl with solid black hair and a little tall walking away with her hands crossed behind her back, and as she turns to look at Inei, his vision goes white.
If it weren't for her, things would be different.
Inei arrives at the front of the school, a couple of college girls passing him.
"Eww, what a loser. I don't care if that guy ever became famous; let's avoid him."
They begin to walk a little faster past him. Inei was not even close to lifting his head.
All of you are the same, all you rotten people are the same.
Inei enters the college grounds, avoiding people, a black aura radiating from him, splitting the college people as Moses did the sea.
It's Friday. It means THOSE people are out today.
Showing Inei's face, he looks up, his eyes landing on large signs, banners, and set-ups of fraternities. Inei sighs.
Let's go through the motions like always, this is ridiculous and a useless way to absorb your time.
Inei puts his head down again, putting on his black headphones, which restrict the sound of the world around him, isolating himself to his own world. In the corner of his eye, he sees people trying to talk to him, but he ignores them as he walks to his first class. Class to class Inei sits attentively, writing down notes and useful information. Some teachers crack jokes and when others laugh, Inei blankly stares at the professor irritably. When his final class ends, Inei goes to the nearest lounge, sitting at a table by himself. He opens a textbook he has removed from his bag whiling taking his seat and starts reading, the words flowing through his brain. As he reads, terms not in the book begin filling his head, causing his head to strain and for him to close his eyes. The voice slowly becomes an unfamiliar girl's voice, filling his head.
"When did you become so soft?"
"I thought you were cool."
"Wow, those books over me. What am I, dead?"
"You don't care about me."
"I hate you."
"You should have never existed."
Why? Why must you haunt me the way you do?! Please leave me alone!
Suddenly, another girl's voice, soft, overpowers the other whispers.
"Excuse me,"
Inei's eyes open, a sense of dread and surprise on them, slowly looking up to meet the eyes of another college girl. Her cherry blossom-colored eyes would leave a man speechless, and her vibrant orange hair that meets her hips helps insinuate her figure, leading down to her legs, only cut by her school outfit skirt.
"May I sit with you? You seem to be by yourself. Also, there are no other open chairs."
Doesn't this girl know? I'm Inei Hoshi, the least popular person on campus and the least social on top of that. Leave me alone.
Inei looks at her momentarily, then his eyes turn from shock to their normal state, looking away at his book. She puts a finger to her bottom lip, then smiles radiantly.
"I'll take that as a yes, then!"
She happily sits across from him, who doesn't even put an inch of sight her way as she sits. She keeps her smile and then puts a handout to him.
"My name is Azami Hikari! It's a pleasure to meet you. Who are you?"
Inei doesn't move, just looking at his textbook, seemingly paying attention to nothing else.
Please just leave me alone, I have no interest in who you are.
Azami slightly pulls her hand away nervously, chuckling.
"You don't talk much, do you? Can you at least tell me your name?"
Inei silently sits, looking at his textbook.
I'm Inei Hoshi. But that doesn't matter to you.
Azami pouts and notices some writing on an assignment sticking out of his bag.
"Ah, so your name is Inei? That's an interesting name. I'm taking classes to become a teacher. What about you?"
As Azami spoke, Inei walks away without a trace, leaving a sad Azami behind at the table.
If you can't take a hint, I'll show you boldly to leave me alone.
"Inei! Give me twenty-five push-ups!"
Curse sports. Why did I have to be good at them in high school?
Inei gets down on the court floor, performing his push-ups without emotion.
"You were so talented in high school. Where did all that passion go?! Do the drill again!"
Inei gets up, trying to perform the drill with no emotion, no passion. Inei once again flunks the exercise. The coach sighs and walks off the court.
Why try? It's the same drills every day none of us are learning anything.
After practice ends, Inei begins walking to the locker room, listening to the much-produced mumbling left behind him.
"What's that guy's problem?"
"He's been like that for as long as I've known him. He's not even as good as they said he would be."
"He rubs me the wrong way; let's continue practicing a bit without him."
People are just disgusting. People are the worst. They're always the same. They never change. What did I ever do to deserve so much hate from people?
After a long, lonely, boring practice, Inei walks home, wears his headphones as he enters his house, and goes straight to his room, avoiding his mother entirely. Once he gets to his room, he places down his bag and lays on his bed, falling asleep within seconds of hitting the sheets.
"Inei...Inei...Inei!!"
Inei slowly opens his eyes, seeing himself in the void of space, a voice slowly hitting his ears.
"Inei...Inei..."
Voice, why must you say my name? Why must you tease me? Why must you torment me?"
"Inei...Inei..."
Please stop. I don't want to talk. I tried, and it ruined everything. Talking ruins everything.
"Inei...let me show you..."
Inei shows little emotion of shock before everything begins to fade out of existence.
Why? Why were you different? Why did you talk to me?
His vision again completely fades to white, then reality begins to show from Inei's vision, then offers his eyes slowly opening. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, then exhales deeply. He sits up, stretching.
Well, time to start my day all over again, the same way as yesterday.
Inei completes his tasks once again just like he did the previous day, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, eating toast and eggs, his mom telling him she loves him, walking to school, and going to school. He sits in his chair, looks down into his bag, and pulls out his textbook. As he looks up, his face meets Azami's, a large smile across her face as she leans on his desk with her head in her hands, their faces inches from each other.
"Good morning, Inei!"
After a moment of a stare-down, Inei looks away, placing his textbook on his desk, opening it, and looking only at it. Azami looks at him, confused, then furrows her eyebrows. Then smiles again after a sigh.
"You know, it's crazy how we are in the same class, and I never noticed it!"
A moment is displayed where it shows that Azami sits forward and three seats to the right of Inei, arrows pointing at their chairs sarcastically, showing why she never noticed him in the class, plus the fact he is silent. Once again, he does not respond, still looking into his textbook. Azami sighs again, putting her hands directly onto the book, furrowing her eyebrows with an aggravated look.
"Come on. I'm trying to communicate with you. Why do you refuse to talk to me?"
Inei still looks down, slowly at her, and then back at his book. Suddenly a voice comes from nowhere.
"Azami, why are you even trying to talk to him? He doesn't talk and is super boring. Why even bother with that mute?"
Inei and Azami turn to see another girl, about the same height as Azami, maybe a couple of inches shorter. Her eyes are the color of amber, and her hair, the color of bronze, lays wavy down past her shoulders by an inch. Azami begins to speak.
"Aneko! How are you today?!"
"You still did not answer my question. If you can't tell me why you're talking to this guy, you shouldn't be at all. Look how evil he looks!"
"He os not evil! It's because I met him in the library yesterday, and we became friends!"
"Friends? With a guy who does not talk? Come on; I've been like, your older sister since our first years of schooling. He's not worth making friends with, take my word for it."
Azami stands up with her arms stiff straight down with a pout on her face.
"So? He could be a good person! No one deserves to be alone!"
Inei's eyes gently look at Azami, then forward, standing up and leaving the room.
It would be best if you listened to your friend. I'm no one.
As Inei exits the door, he hears one final statement.
"You don't know that, Aneko. He could just be going through something."
As Inei is out of view, he stops walking momentarily, looking at the ground.
What is up with that girl? Can't she see I want to be left alone? Why does she want to talk to me and be my friend so bad?!
He looks up towards the ceiling, looking at the lights.
I can't go back. I can't go back to who I used to be. Everyone is better off this way.
He looks back down, then continues walking, entering the bathroom.
As Inei sits at the table the day before, Inei furrows his eyebrows at something that disrupts his studies more, but this time by more than just Azami. It is Azami dragging her friend by the arm, who seems to be trying to get away, as Azami smiles radiantly at Inei.
"Hi Inei, sorry about today during class! I thought I'd make it up to you and introduce you to another one of my friends!"
Inei looks at them with the same look, as usual, his eyes hitting them like daggers of annoyance.
"Her name is Yasu Kazuki!"
Yasu continues to try to escape, but Azami forces her to sit at a seat at the table, and Azami sits between Inei and Yasu. Inei examines Yasu, who seems to be shorter than average. She wears blue-framed glasses and has sky-blue eyes with long royal purple hair, long enough to reach halfway down her back. Her uniform hugs her body tightly compared to others. She sits awkwardly, pink in the cheeks with nerves. Azami smiles awkwardly with an awkward chuckle, getting up quickly and whispering into Yasu's ear, then sits back down, looking at Inei with a big smile.
"I decided to introduce you to her because she's reticent and socially awkward like you! But I've been trying to break her free of that!"
Suddenly, Yasu leans over and begins pointing at questions that Inei filled in, her hand visually trembling with nerves.
"Um, I'm sorry, but that one is wrong. I'm sorry it is I want to help."
She sits back in her chair, closing herself off, closing her eyes with tenseness with her hands in her lap, a feint blush on her cheeks.
Inei looks at her for a moment, then down at the equation. After looking at it momentarily, he erases his original answer and changes it. Then looks back up at Yasu. He nods lightly to her and continues to work, both girls' eyes glow with a little shock.
"Ah! Yasu! You got a response from him! Teach me how you got that!"
She starts shaking a desperate-to-get-away Yasu, who cries with desperation. Inei watches coldly, then looks down at his textbook.
I appreciate the help, it would have been rude to ignore her, but I would genuinely like to be alone, only if I spoke.
At that moment, Aneko walks past and retracts her steps, looking at the table.
"Azami, why are you now making Yasu suffer through this? She obviously wants no part in whatever scheme you have going on with this boy."
Azami stands, fists clenched.
"Aneko, why do you care? You normally don't care about anything going on. Why suddenly do you care if I try to make friends with someone when I make friends with everyone?"
Inei looks at Aneko, who looks down at him sternly with hatred. Then, she looks at Azami, pointing her finger in her face.
"You know what? I don't care. Just be careful. But do know, I never will be friends with him, ever."
After this, she turns her nose to the air and walks off without a second look. Azami sits down, looking down towards the table. Azami takes a deep breathe and sighs as Yasu takes her hand in consolation , smiling at her. Azami smiles back, then they turn to look at Inei, who is already gone. Inei is walking to the gym while he talks to himself in his mind.
As Inei walks home from another practice, he looks at the dull concrete he walks upon as thoughts fill his head.
It would be wise of you to listen to your friend, Azami.
Bad practice like usual; it was maybe even worse today.
Inei reflects on the coach yelling at him.
I usually do decent on free throws, but today was not good for me.
The coach continues shouting at Inei, who looks down and not at the coach.
"You blew it this time! You made what, thirty-seven out of one hundred free throws?! Unbelievable!"
Inei continues walking, still looking at the ground.
And those damn girls, they confuse me so much. Only one wants anything to do with me, and I don't know why. I intentionally ignore her, and she still bothers me. I don't understand why.
He looks up, then looks left, having arrived at his house. He looks down again, turns towards the door, takes a deep breath, exhales, and heads inside the house.
Why even bother with me? I'm not enjoying it. I am a no-one, and I am happily a no-one.
After entering, he stands at the door that has closed behind him, leaning back against it and falling to his butt, eyes closed. He thinks of the sentence that slipped through Azami's lips as he sat seemingly dead at the door.
"You don't know that." What does she know? That's somewhat hypocritical of her. She doesn't know if I have a good soul, yet she tells her friend she doesn't know something about me. She knows nothing of me.
Inei takes a deep breath, letting the air release through his nose. He climbs to his feet and then continues into the house, his mom has left a bit of what she had cooked for dinner on the table. Inei glances to her room door, and it is closed.
She must have gone to bed before I got home. Oh well, it's not like I was going to talk anyway.
Inei sits at the table; Sekihan sits with a glass of water.
Thank you for this meal, I actually do enjoy this one.
Inei bows and then takes his chopsticks, eating his food slowly and cautiously. When he finishes, he stands up, cleans his bowl, and places it back in the cabinet. As he walks up his stairs, the same sentence rings through his mind.
"You don't know that." What does Aneko not know that Azami does? What about me, do you know? I'm no one and don't talk to anyone. You don't know, either.
Inei reaches his bedroom, slowly pushing open the door. As he enters, he sets his bag by his study desk, goes to his cabinet, changes clothes, then gets in the shower. As he showers, his thoughts fill his head.
Make sure you study for your exam. Make sure you check your homework. Make sure you prepare clothes for tomorrow. Make sure you're prepared to listen to Azami.
The last one puts him to a halt, stopping all movement. As he scrubs his hair with soap, he lets his arms fall to his side.
Even if I don't want to, she will end up a part of my life whether I like it or not, so I might as well accept it. Even though I'm not too fond of it, cause if I'm not going to speak up to shut her off, then it shouldn't bother me that bad.
He leans his head into the warm water. He gets out and begins drying off and getting dressed into track pants and a white T-shirt. He sits at his study desk, pulling out a journal with homework, examining it, fixing anything that needs fixing, and studying the information. His focus is on an elite level till something starts clicking. As the inconsistency of the click continues, he starts getting frustrated. He looks at the window, where something keeps knocking against it. He slowly gets up, making his way to the window. Halfway to the window, the clicking stops, and so does Inei. Then, Inei continues forward, reaching the window, and right when he does, a face pops out from the side of the outside of the window.
"Hi, Inei!"
Inei falls backward with fear, then looks again at the window, a giggling Azami at his window.
"Oops! I'm sorry I scared you!"
Inei gets up, opening his window and looking out.
How the hell are you at the window?! I'm on the second story!
When he looks at Azami, his eyes express annoyance, seeing she is on a ladder. He looks at her, who smiles at him and closes the window and the curtains. He turns and walks away, but as he does, he hears her through the window, her voice muffled.
"Please, Inei, don't push me out. I got a ladder to come to see you. And it's freezing. Please let me come in, even if it's just for a few minutes."
Inei stops, frustrated with himself.
Damn me for caring. How does she even know where I live?
He turns around and opens the curtains and window, letting her crawl in, and then closes his window, returning to his desk. She sits on Inei's bed.
"Thank you for letting me in, and you may wonder why I'm even here, considering how late it is."
Inei takes a glance at the clock. Ten-thirty is the read time. Inei looks back to his homework, then at Azami, slightly shivering. He pulls up the blanket from his bed and hands it to her; she thanks him, then he returns to the desk, studying the homework thoroughly. Azami, anxious to get him to listen, furrows her eyebrows and smirks, leaning back into a seductive posture.
"You know, it's just you and a girl in a room, together, alone. At least pay some sort of attention."
Inei turns entirely, looking at her, sighing, then puts his eyes on her, listening to her but not for what she said, his expression showing his annoyance to her remark. Azami then sits regularly and gives a smile.
"Thank you. I'm here because I want you to know I want to be your friend. After all, it would be best if you weren't alone. It's never good to be alone."
Inei doesn't change his expression, only focusing on what she says. Azami brings her hand to her chest.
"I'm not friends with you because I feel bad for you or think you're weird. It is not even some bet that I am trying to win! I want to be friends with you genuinely because even the darkest looking people can have some kind and good things to them."
Inei raises an eyebrow now, somewhat interested. Azami leans back with her arms and hands behind her continuing to talk and looking up at the ceiling.
"You don't have to be my friend. You don't. But I will be your friend because I want to be your friend, and that's not your choice. If I want to be your friend, I will be your friend. But you don't have to be my friend if you don't want to be, and that's okay, because hopefully you will be my friend when you see how much fun we'll have."
Inei squints his eyes at the word "fun," and Azami giggles, leaning forward and ruffling his hair.
"Oh, you are just like a dog, you can't speak for yourself, but I know what that face means!"
Azami stands and walks over to the window, opening it and climbing onto the ladder.
"But Inei, do know, I have a surprise for you tomorrow. Goodnight!"
She disappears down the ladder. As Inei gets up to close the window, he notices that the ladder and Azami are gone. He shakes his head and fixes his hair back the way he had it, an angry look on his face.
I'm too tired for this; maybe I studied too hard and imagined all of this. I should go to bed.
Inei packs his materials and lays down, falling asleep thinking about his interactions with what he believes was a hallucination of Azami.
"Inei!...Please, you must help me!..."
Inei opens his eyes as he appears in the same white space as the previous night. Static sounds begin to echo through the open area around him. Inei searches left and right, looking for the voice that continuously calls out to him.
Who are you?! Why do you need my help?!
The voice answers as if reading his mind, replying to the exact words he thinks.
"You are the only one...who can!..."
Inei raises his eyebrows in shock at the response that was so directly responsive to his thoughts.
You, you understand my words without speech?
The voice Inei searches for fades a little, still seeming scared and shaky.
"I do...but that is not what matters now...I need your help!..."
Inei again asks the same question, feeling as if he has gone unanswered.
I understand you do, but I do not know how to help you; why does it have to be me?!
The voice fades even more, and Inei loses it as it continues to speak.
"It must be you...because of the person I know you are...the person I remember you being..."
Inei is once again shocked but does not express it, and he begins asking more questions.
What do you mean who you remember?! Who are you?!
The voice responds, but Inei cannot hear them, the voice too faint for words to be understood. Inei grits his teeth in frustration.
Where did you go?! Come back! I have not asked you all my questions! I still need answers!
But the voice does not return, and the static begins to fade as the white space around Inei turns black. Inei closes his eyes and slowly reopens them, now physically awake in his room. He lets out a deep breath, sits up, and stretches.
Well, that was an exciting dream, but now it is time to return to the same day I always go through.
Inei steps out of bed and does his usual routine, and walks to school as normal. Inei begins drifting off thinking about the dream
There is no way it is her that I am dreaming about. She hurt me! I should not be dreaming about wanting to help her.
Then, Inei's daydream comes to a halt by a loud slam on a desk one forward and three two the right. Azami stands leaning on her hands on her desk.
"I want to be Inei's partner!"
The entire class's faces, especially Inei's, turn pale from surprise and complete shock by this decleration.